Method and system for analyzing radio performance during over-the-air operation

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for determining characteristics of a radio within a communications network includes a radio, RF signal sensor, and analyzer. The radio transmits RF signals and has transmission operating parameters with respective predetermined values defined by a regulatory agency, a manufacturer, a user and a provider, the values having respective thresholds, a unique identifier; and an over-the-air operating mode in which the signals comprise the identifier. The sensor receives the signals from the radio having characteristics correlating with the transmission operating parameters. While the signals are being received during the operating mode, the analyzer measures the signal characteristics and determines health of the radio by analyzing whether the measured characteristics transmitted are within the respective thresholds of the values, and concludes that health is acceptable if the measured characteristics are within the thresholds, and concludes that health is unacceptable if at least one measured characteristic is outside a threshold.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is:

a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/586,349, filed May 4, 2017, which application is:

-   -   a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.        14/944,980, filed Nov. 18, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,681,321,        issued on Jun. 13, 2017, which application is:        -   a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.            14/574,196, filed on Dec. 17, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No.            9,282,482, issued on Mar. 8, 2016, which application is:            -   a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.                14/024,517, filed on Sep. 11, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No.                8,948,022, issued on Feb. 3, 2015, which application is:                -   a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.                    12/882,193, filed on Sep. 14, 2010, now U.S. Pat.                    No. 8,565,096, issued on Oct. 22, 2013 (which                    application claimed priority to U.S. Patent                    Application Ser. No. 61/252,693 filed on Oct. 18,                    2009),                    the prior applications are herewith incorporated by                    reference herein in their entireties.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention lies in the field of electronic communicationsdevices. The present disclosure relates to a method and system foranalyzing radio performance during over-the-air operation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The ability of a communications transmitting device to operate accordingto its specifications is crucial to proper communications between thetransmitting device and the receiving device. Often the user does notrealize the transmitting device is not operating according to itsspecification until it fails completely. When the device fails, it mustbe taken out of service, the problem diagnosed and the device repaired.The present invention overcomes this limitation by advising the userwhen a specification parameter is not met, although the device maycontinue to operate within the network at a degraded level.

Thus, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art systems,designs, and processes as discussed above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a method and system for analyzing radioperformance during over-the-air operation that overcome thehereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices andmethods of this general type.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, inaccordance with the invention, an apparatus for identifying failed orsuspect radio-frequency (RF) transmitting devices while theradio-frequency transmitting devices are in normal operationtransmitting over-the-air RF signals, includes at least one RF signalsensor receiving the RF signals from at least one of the RF transmittingdevices, each of the RF transmitting devices including an identifier andbeing mobile, portable or stationary, the at least one RF signal sensorresponsive to the received RF signals, an analyzer measuring signalparameters of the received RF signals and determining operatingcharacteristics of at least one of the RF transmitting devices from thesignal parameters, determining the identifier within each of thereceived RF signals, determining if each of the received RF signalsconform to packet structure specifications, determining bit-fieldinformation of each of the received RF signals and discerning from thebit-field information a type of transmission that has been received fromthe at least one RF transmitting device, measuring an RF frequencyoffset of the at least one RF transmitting device, correlating thebit-field information with the RF frequency offset utilizing theidentifier, and repeatedly carrying out the bit-field informationdetermining step, the RF frequency offset measuring step and thecorrelating step to determine a range of RF frequency offset deviationsover time, and a graphical user interface displaying the range of RFfrequency offset deviations over time in a form that can be used toidentify a range of the RF frequency offset of the at least one RFtransmitting device.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the analyzerutilizes the range of RF frequency offset deviations to repair the atleast one RF transmitting device.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the analyzerutilizes the range of RF frequency offset deviations to generate andsend e-mail alerts to users and system operators to repair the at leastone RF transmitting device.

In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the analyzerutilizes the range of RF frequency offset deviations to clear the atleast one RF transmitting device of all recorded performancemeasurements and events to restart a collection and evaluation processfor the at least one RF transmitting device.

In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the at leastone RF transmitting device contains lists and has data reportingrequirements and the analyzer utilizes the range of RF frequency offsetdeviations to define the contents of any one of the lists and/or thedata reporting requirements.

In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the identifieris at least one of a radio serial number and a radio ID.

In accordance with yet a further feature of the invention, the analyzeruses the identifier from the received RF signals to correlate operatingcharacteristics to a particular one of the transmitting devices.

In accordance with yet an added feature of the invention, the analyzercollects operating characteristics for identified transmitting devicesmore frequently than operating characteristics for other transmittingdevices.

In accordance with yet an additional feature of the invention, thegraphical user interface displays the operating characteristics for eachtransmitting device.

In accordance with again another feature of the invention, the analyzerdetermines RF frequency characteristics of the received RF signals fromthe at least one transmitting device, determines the respectiveidentifier of the at least one transmitting device from the received RFsignals, and uses the identifier from the received RF signals tocorrelate at least one of the RF frequency characteristics and thebit-field information of the particular one of the transmitting devices,and the graphical user interface displays at least one of the RFfrequency characteristics and the bit-field information in a form thatcan be used to identify transmitting devices that have failed andtransmitting devices that are suspect.

In accordance with again a further feature of the invention, the RFfrequency characteristics are selected from RF frequency accuracy of thereceived RF signals, RF frequency offset of the received RF signals, atiming of a RF frequency offset of the received RF signals, a RFfrequency offset of the received RF signals relative to a beginning of amessage, a RF frequency offset of the received RF signals throughout amessage, a frequency deviation of the received RF signals, a range offrequency deviations of the received RF signals over time; and/or amaximum frequency deviation of the received RF signals, the analyzeruses the identifier from the received RF signals to correlate the RFfrequency characteristics to the particular one of the transmittingdevices, and the graphical user interface displays the RF frequencycharacteristics in a form that can be used to identify transmittingdevices that have failed and transmitting devices that are suspect.

In accordance with again an added feature of the invention, the analyzermeasures signal parameters of received RF signals and determinesoperating characteristics of the transmitting devices from the signalparameters and uses the identifier from the received RF signals tocorrelate the operating characteristics to the particular one of thetransmitting devices.

In accordance with again an additional feature of the invention, thegraphical user interface displays the operating characteristics for eachtransmitting device.

In accordance with still another feature of the invention, the analyzerfurther determines transmitting devices satisfying predefined operatingthresholds, transmitting devices satisfying specifications applicable tothe transmitting device, suspect transmitting devices, transmittingdevices transmitting a signal having an RSSI below a predeterminedthreshold, transmitting devices transmitting a signal having an RSSIbelow the specification applicable to the transmitting device,transmitting devices having an insufficient number of transmissions fromwhich to determine operating characteristics of the transmitting device,transmitting devices not in regular use, and/or transmitting devicereports according to user-defined topics.

In accordance with still a further feature of the invention, the signalparameters comprise at least one of RF frequency accuracy, RF frequencyoffset from an assigned frequency, timing of RF frequency offsetsrelative to a beginning of a message transmission, RF frequency offsetvariations throughout a message transmission, frequency deviation of themodulated signal, range of frequency deviations over time, amplitudevariations during a message transmission, symbol frequency error, symbolclock error, modulation fidelity, bit error rate, conformance to packetstructure specifications, baud rate changes during a messagetransmission, spurious emissions, RSSI, consistent low power levelirrespective of location of the transmitting device, high bit error rateirrespective of location of the transmitting device, battery charge, anumber of retries over a predetermined threshold, and unexpectedly lowRSSI.

In accordance with still an added feature of the invention, the analyzercomprises a storage time parameter identifying a period of time forstoring the operating characteristics and a data collection frequencyparameter identifying a frequency at which the operating characteristicsare determined, the analyzer includes a list of the identifiers oftransmitting devices for which signal parameters are to be determined,and frequency of monitoring and analyzing the signal parameters isuser-defined for each transmitting device.

In accordance with still an additional feature of the invention, thetransmitting device comprises a transmitting device operating in atrunked radio network, the analyzer monitors at least one of a requestfrom the transmitting device to a network controller for an inboundchannel, a message from the network controller advising the transmittingdevice of an assigned inbound channel, and an inbound channel carryingtransmissions from the transmitting device, the analyzer operates inconjunction with a location-determining system determining a location ofthe transmitting devices in the trunked radio network, and the analyzeradvises the location-determining system of the performance of thetransmitting devices in the trunked radio network.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the transmittingdevice comprises a mobile or portable transmitting device or a mobile orportable transceiver and the transmitting device is operative in acommunications network selected from at least one of a WiFi network, atrunked transmitting device network, a cellular telephone network, apaging network, a WiMax network, an 802.11x network, and a Zigbeenetwork.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the at least one RFsignal sensor comprises at least one antenna, a receiver, a digitalsignal processor, a precision oscillator and a general purpose processorcooperating to measure signal parameters of the RF signals from whichthe operating characteristics of the transmitting device are determined.

In accordance with still another feature of the invention, the analyzerdetermines a “health” of at least one of the transmitting devices bycomparing the operating characteristics of the at least one transmittingdevice with performance specifications for the at least one transmittingdevice and/or governmental regulations applicable to performance of theat least one transmitting device.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, there is provided adatabase storing information related to the operating characteristics,the information comprising one or more of statistics related to theoperating characteristics for a transmitting device, past repair datesfor a transmitting device, transmitting devices for which no operatingcharacteristics have been determined, and user-defined information,storing at least one of the RF frequency characteristics and thebit-field information, and from which the operating characteristics andthe at least one of the RF frequency characteristics and the bit-fieldinformation for a transmitting device are deleted after the transmittingdevice is repaired.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, anapparatus for determining characteristics of a radio within acommunications network comprising at least one radio being mobile orportable and transmitting over-the-air RF signals within thecommunications network, the at least one radio having transmissionoperating parameters with respective predetermined values defined by atleast one of a regulatory agency, a manufacturer of the at least oneradio, a user of the communications network and a provider of thecommunications network, the predetermined values having respectivethresholds, a unique identifier, and an over-the-air operating mode inwhich the at least one radio transmits radio frequency (RF) signalswithin the communications network, the signals comprising at least theunique identifier, at least one RF signal sensor receiving the RFsignals transmitted from the at least one radio in the over-the-airoperating mode, the RF signals comprising the unique identifier andhaving characteristics correlating with the transmission operatingparameters, an analyzer communicatively connected to the at least one RFsignal sensor and, while the RF signals are being received during theover-the-air operating mode, the analyzer is configured to measure thecharacteristics of the RF signals and determine a health of the at leastone radio by analyzing whether the measured characteristics of the RFsignals transmitted from the at least one radio are within therespective thresholds of the predetermined values, the analyzer isconfigured to conclude that the health of the at least one radio isacceptable if the measured characteristics of the RF signals are withinthe respective thresholds of the predetermined values, and the analyzeris configured to conclude that the health of the at least one radio isunacceptable if at least one of the measured characteristics of the RFsignals are outside at least one respective threshold of thepredetermined values.

With the objects in view, there is also provided an apparatus fordetermining characteristics of a radio within a communications networkcomprising at least one radio being mobile or portable and transmittingover-the-air RF signals within the communications network, the at leastone radio having a unique identifier, an over-the-air operating mode inwhich the at least one radio transmits radio frequency (RF) signalswithin the communications network, the signals comprising at least theunique identifier, and transmission operating parameters with respectivepredetermined values defined by at least one of a regulatory agency, amanufacturer of the at least one radio, a user of the communicationsnetwork and a provider of the communications network, the transmissionoperating parameters comprising RF frequency offset, the predeterminedvalues having respective thresholds comprising at least an RF frequencyoffset threshold, at least one RF signal sensor receiving the RF signalstransmitted from the at least one radio, the RF signals comprising theunique identifier and having characteristics correlating with thetransmission operating parameters, and an analyzer communicativelyconnected to the at least one RF signal sensor and measuring thecharacteristics of the RF signals while the RF signals are beingreceived during the over-the-air operating mode and determining a healthof the at least one radio by analyzing whether the measured RF frequencyoffset of the RF signals transmitted from the at least one radio arewithin the RF frequency offset threshold and, if the measured RFfrequency offset of the RF signals is outside the RF frequency offsetthreshold, scheduling a repair of the RF frequency offset of the atleast one radio with a software update.

With the objects in view, there is also provided an apparatus fordetermining characteristics of a radio within a communications networkcomprising at least one radio being mobile or portable and transmittingover-the-air RF signals within the communications network, the at leastone radio having transmission operating parameters with respectivepredetermined values defined by at least one of a regulatory agency, amanufacturer of the at least one radio, a user of the communicationsnetwork and a provider of the communications network, the predeterminedvalues having respective thresholds, a unique identifier, and anover-the-air operating mode in which the at least one radio transmitsradio frequency (RF) signals within the communications network, thesignals comprising at least the unique identifier, at least one RFsignal sensor receiving the RF signals transmitted from the at least oneradio in the over-the-air operating mode, the RF signals comprising theunique identifier and having characteristics correlating with thetransmission operating parameters, an analyzer communicatively connectedto the at least one RF signal sensor and, while the RF signals are beingreceived during the over-the-air operating mode the analyzer isconfigured to measure the characteristics of the RF signals anddetermine a health of the at least one radio by analyzing whether themeasured characteristics of the RF signals transmitted from the at leastone radio are within the respective thresholds of the predeterminedvalues, the analyzer is configured to conclude that the health of the atleast one radio is acceptable if the measured characteristics of the RFsignals are within the respective thresholds of the predeterminedvalues, and the analyzer is configured to conclude that the health ofthe at least one radio is unacceptable if at least one of the measuredcharacteristics of the RF signals are outside at least one respectivethreshold of the predetermined values and to schedule a repair of the atleast one of the operating parameters of the at least one radio with asoftware update based upon at least one of the measured characteristicsof the RF signals that is outside a respective threshold of thepredetermined values.

In accordance with another feature, the analyzer at least temporarilystores a health status of the at least one radio and utilizes the healthstatus to effect repairs on the at least one radio when the health ofthe at least one radio is determined to be unacceptable.

In accordance with a further feature, the analyzer is configured toinstall a software update in the at least one radio as a repair when thehealth of the at least one radio is determined to be unacceptable.

In accordance with an added feature, when the health of the at least oneradio is unacceptable, the analyzer is configured to flag the at leastone radio as suspect if at least one of the measured characteristics ofthe RF signals is outside a first threshold range of at least one of thepredetermined values and to flag the at least one radio as failed if atleast one of the measured characteristics of the RF signals is outside asecond threshold range of at least one of the predetermined values andat least one of to indicate to at least one of the user and the providerto remove the at least one radio from service and to remove the at leastone radio from service.

In accordance with an additional feature, the analyzer is configured todetermine the health of the at least one radio at least one of with theRF signal sensor and separate from the RF signal sensor.

In accordance with yet another feature, the transmission operatingparameters comprise at least one of RF frequency accuracy, RF frequencyoffset from an assigned frequency, timing of RF frequency offsetsrelative to a beginning of a message transmission, RF frequency offsetvariations throughout a message transmission, frequency deviation of themodulated signal, range of frequency deviations over time, amplitudevariations during a message transmission, symbol frequency error, symbolclock error, modulation fidelity, bit error rate, conformance to packetstructure specifications, baud rate changes during a messagetransmission, spurious emissions, received signal strength indicator(RSSI), consistent low power level irrespective of location of the atleast one radio, high bit error rate irrespective of location of the atleast one radio, battery charge, a number of retries over apredetermined threshold, and unexpectedly low RSSI.

In accordance with yet a further feature, the analyzer is configured todetermine the health of the at least one radio by analyzing whether theRF frequency offset of the RF signals transmitted from the at least oneradio are within an RF frequency offset threshold and, if the measuredRF frequency offset of the RF signals is outside the RF frequency offsetthreshold, to conclude that the health of the at least one radio isunacceptable and to repair the RF frequency offset of the at least oneradio with a software update.

In accordance with yet an added feature, the analyzer is configured todetermine the unique identifier within the received RF signals, todetermine if each of the received RF signals conform to packet structurespecifications, to determine bit-field information of the received RFsignals and discern from the bit-field information a type oftransmission that has been received from the at least one radio, tomeasure the RF frequency offset of the at least one radio, to correlatethe bit-field information with the RF frequency offset utilizing theunique identifier, and to repeatedly carry out the bit-field informationdetermining step, the RF frequency offset measuring step and thecorrelating step to determine a range of RF frequency offset deviationsover time.

In accordance with yet an additional feature, the analyzer is configuredto utilize the range of RF frequency offset deviations to repair the atleast one radio.

In accordance with again another feature, an event is defined when an RFsignal from the at least one radio is detected by the RF signal sensorand the analyzer is configured to utilize the range of RF frequencyoffset deviations to clear the at least one radio of all recordedmeasured characteristics and events to restart a collection andevaluation process for the at least one radio.

In accordance with again a further feature, the analyzer is configuredto utilize the range of RF frequency offset deviations to generate andsend e-mail alerts to at least one of the user and the provider torepair the at least one radio.

In accordance with again an added feature, the communications network isat least one of a trunked radio network and a public safety trunkedradio network.

In accordance with still another feature, the at least one radio is aplurality of radios.

In accordance with still a further feature, the RF signal sensorcomprises a database and stores the radio identifier of each of theradios in the database, the database comprising a list of the uniqueidentifiers for each of the radios to be monitored and each of theradios not to be monitored, specifications for each of the radios,desired transmission operating parameters for each of the radios,specification ranges for each of the radios, and the measuredcharacteristics of the RF signals received from each of the radios asthose RF signals are received.

In accordance with still an added feature, the RF signal sensorcomprises a database and stores information related to the transmissionoperating parameters in the database, the information comprising atleast one of statistics related to the transmission operating parametersfor the radios, past repair dates for the radios, identification ofthose radios for which no operating characteristics have beendetermined, and user-defined information.

In accordance with still an additional feature, the RF signal sensor isa plurality of receivers and which further comprises, when an RF signalfrom the at least one radio is detected by one of the receivers, definedas an event, the one receiver determines and stores for the event theunique identifier of the at least one radio, date and time information,and the measured characteristics for the at least one radio andtime-aligns the events with two or more of the receivers.

In accordance with another feature, the transmission operatingparameters have respective thresholds for the network provider that aretighter than thresholds defined by at least one of the regulatory agencyand the manufacturer of the at least one radio.

In accordance with a further feature, the RF signal sensor comprises atleast one antenna, a receiver, a digital signal processor, a precisionoscillator, and a general purpose processor cooperating together tomeasure the characteristics of the transmitted RF signals and to comparethe characteristics with the transmission operating parameters.

In accordance with an added feature, the radio is at least one of amobile transceiver and a portable transceiver.

In accordance with yet another feature, the analyzer is configured toinstall the software update in the at least one radio as the repair whenthe measured RF frequency offset of the RF signals is outside the RFfrequency offset threshold.

In accordance with a concomitant feature, the analyzer is configured toinstall the software update in the at least one radio as the repair whenthe health of the at least one radio is determined to be unacceptable.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodiedin a method and system for analyzing radio performance duringover-the-air operation, it is, nevertheless, not intended to be limitedto the details shown because various modifications and structuralchanges may be made therein without departing from the spirit of theinvention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.Additionally, well-known elements of exemplary embodiments of theinvention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as notto obscure the relevant details of the invention.

Additional advantages and other features characteristic of the presentinvention will be set forth in the detailed description that follows andmay be apparent from the detailed description or may be learned bypractice of exemplary embodiments of the invention. Still otheradvantages of the invention may be realized by any of theinstrumentalities, methods, or combinations particularly pointed out inthe claims.

Other features that are considered as characteristic for the inventionare set forth in the appended claims. As required, detailed embodimentsof the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to beunderstood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of theinvention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specificstructural and functional details disclosed herein are not to beinterpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as arepresentative basis for teaching one of ordinary skill in the art tovariously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriatelydetailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are notintended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandabledescription of the invention. While the specification concludes withclaims defining the features of the invention that are regarded asnovel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood froma consideration of the following description in conjunction with thedrawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separateviews, which are not true to scale, and which, together with thedetailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of thespecification, serve to illustrate further various embodiments and toexplain various principles and advantages all in accordance with thepresent invention. Advantages of embodiments of the present inventionwill be apparent from the following detailed description of theexemplary embodiments thereof, which description should be considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

The FIGURE is a block diagram of the system of the present invention.

In accordance with common practice, the various described features arenot drawn to scale, but are drawn to emphasize specific featuresrelevant to the invention. Like reference characters denote likeelements throughout the figures and text.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in variousforms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosedherein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis forthe claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in theart to variously employ the present invention in virtually anyappropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases usedherein are not intended to be limiting; but rather, to provide anunderstandable description of the invention. While the specificationconcludes with claims defining the features of the invention that areregarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be betterunderstood from a consideration of the following description inconjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numeralsare carried forward.

Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spiritor the scope of the invention. Additionally, well-known elements ofexemplary embodiments of the invention will not be described in detailor will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of theinvention.

Before the present invention is disclosed and described, it is to beunderstood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescribing particular embodiments only and is not intended to belimiting. The terms “a” or “an”, as used herein, are defined as one ormore than one. The term “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as twoor more than two. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as atleast a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having,” as usedherein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term“coupled,” as used herein, is defined as connected, although notnecessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically.

Relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the likemay be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from anotherentity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actualsuch relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms“comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof are intendedto cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method,article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not includeonly those elements but may include other elements not expressly listedor inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An elementproceeded by “comprises . . . a” does not, without more constraints,preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

As used herein, the term “about” or “approximately” applies to allnumeric values, whether or not explicitly indicated. These termsgenerally refer to a range of numbers that one of skill in the art wouldconsider equivalent to the recited values (i.e., having the samefunction or result). In many instances these terms may include numbersthat are rounded to the nearest significant figure.

The terms “program,” “software,” “software application,” and the like asused herein, are defined as a sequence of instructions designed forexecution on a computer system. A “program,” “software,” “application,”“computer program,” or “software application” may include a subroutine,a function, a procedure, an object method, an object implementation, anexecutable application, an applet, a servlet, a source code, an objectcode, a shared library/dynamic load library and/or other sequence ofinstructions designed for execution on a computer system.

Herein various embodiments of the present invention are described. Inmany of the different embodiments, features are similar. Therefore, toavoid redundancy, repetitive description of these similar features maynot be made in some circumstances. It shall be understood, however, thatdescription of a first-appearing feature applies to the later describedsimilar feature and each respective description, therefore, is to beincorporated therein without such repetition.

Before describing in detail the particular method and system foranalyzing performance of a radio or transmitting device duringover-the-air operation according to the present invention, it should beobserved that the present invention resides in a novel and non-obviouscombination of structural elements and method steps. Accordingly, theseelements have been represented by conventional elements and steps in thedrawings and specification. The elements and process stepsconventionally known in the art are described in lesser detail, andelements and steps pertinent to understanding the invention aredescribed in greater detail. The following preferred embodiments are anapplication of the present invention and are not intended to definelimits of the structure or use of the invention, but only to provideexemplary constructions. Many variations can be made to the designwithin the scope of the presented claims.

The present invention determines the “health” of a transmitting device(e.g., a mobile, portable or stationary transmitter or transceiver) thatemits a radio frequency signal for receiving by a receiving device(e.g., a receiver, a transceiver), including transmitting and receivingdevices operating in a network. The network may include, but is notlimited to, a WiFi network, a trunked radio network, a cellulartelephone network, a paging network, a WiMax network, an 802.11x networkand a Zigbee network. The teachings of the invention can be applied totransmitting and receiving devices operating in digital and analognetworks (where the analog networks include such devices as conventionaltwo-way radios and AM or FM transmitters).

The “health” of each device, which is important to ensure that a usercan effectively communicate with others in the network, is determinedwhile the device is in an over-the-air operating mode. Bench tests fortransmitting devices are known in the repair art. Unlike the known art,the present invention does not require removing the device from activeservice to evaluate the “health” of the device. Instead, the presentinvention allows a network operator or a device user to assess the“health” of the device during normal operation.

When used in the present application, the “health” of a device refers toits performance in accordance with applicable performance specificationsas determined by the device manufacturer or as determined by the user ornetwork provider. That is, the network provider may require tightertolerances for certain operational parameters due to the characteristicsof its network.

A failed component or other element of the device may degrade itsperformance and/or cause its parameters to vary from the specificationvalues. A significant degradation or a significant variation from thespecification may prevent the device from communicating with otherdevices on the network. According to the present invention, thetransmitting devices are tested during over-the-air operation and anyvariance from the applicable specifications is identified. The devicecan then be removed from service for repair.

As used herein the term “radio” refers to any transceiver (ortransmitter) transmitting or transmitting and receiving RF signals.Mobile and portable transceivers used in public safety trunked networksare commonly referred to as radios.

One application of the present invention applies to radios operating ina trunked radio system that includes a location-determining subsystemfor determining the location of any transmitting radio. In thisapplication, the “health” of each radio is important to accuratelylocate the radio and its operator.

The teachings of the invention can be employed by a network operator todetermine the “health” of transmitting devices operating within itsnetwork or the “health” of a transmitting device can be determinedirrespective of any network in which the transmitting device operates.Use of the system of the invention can identify incipient and real-timetransmitting device problems to reduce both transmitting device andnetwork downtime, improve the “health” of the network, increase networkcapacity and improve other aspects of network performance (e.g.,location accuracy for a transmitting device operating in aradio-location system).

To identify incipient problems, the user (or network operator) can set arelatively tight tolerance for transmitting device operation; anyperformance parameters outside this range, while not indicative of afailure, may be evidence of a potential problem. Thus parameters outsidethe user-defined range may trigger an incipient problem alert.

The invention can also determine whether a transmitting device isoperating according to pertinent regulations promulgated by a regulatoryagency, such as the U.S. Federal Communication Commission or similarregulatory agencies of other countries. These regulations dictate theoperating requirements of both licensed and unlicensed transmittingdevices. The invention can also determine if a transmitting deviceoperates within its published specifications, apart from any applicablegovernment regulations.

The system and method of the present invention (commercially referred toas a DiagnostX System) is a field diagnostic tool that verifies and/ordetermines the “health” of transmitting devices using over-the-airtransmissions from the transmitting devices. For example, when a radioin a trunked radio network transmits (on an inbound channel), a requestfor a working channel (i.e., the channel or frequency for carrying asubsequent communication with another radio in the network) to a networkcontroller, the system of the invention captures the transmittedwaveform on the inbound channel and analyzes the waveform for possiblefailures, problems or out-of-spec parameters. The system can also listento the outbound control channel (over which the radio is advised to aworking channel by the network controller) and follow the radio to itsassigned working channel to capture and analyze working channeltransmissions.

The system of the present invention captures inbound and outboundcontrol channel signals and working channel signals to measureoperational characteristics of the radio when operating in atransmitting mode and to detect potential radio transmission problems.The trunked radio system operator can remove the radio from service forrepair or undertake other maintenance actions as deemed advisable. Thesignal measurement and analysis features of the invention are intendedto reduce radio failures in the field and to identify suspect radiosbefore they fail. When used in conjunction with a location-determiningsystem, the present invention also improves the accuracy of thedetermined locations by ensuring that each radio is operating accordingto its specifications. As applied to the trunked radio system, a betteroperating radio can also reduce the number of control channel retriesand therefore increase the system throughput or capacity.

Generally, one parameter determined by the system of the invention is areceived signal strength indicator (RSSI) value. This value must exceeda minimum RSSI to permit meaningful analysis of the signal parametersand transmitter operating characteristics as determined by the presentinvention. In one embodiment the minimum value is −95 dBm. Signals withRSSI values less than −95 dBm can be ignored or if analyzed can benotated with an indication that the RSSI value was below the requiredminimum value.

To set up the radio diagnostic system, an identifier for each radio isentered into the database. The operating characteristics or parametersare also entered manually or selected from a presented menu. Thesespecifications for individual radios are determined by the operating forthat radio, e.g., transmission type, protocol type. For example, eachprotocol may have a different specification and a different range ofpermitted deviations from that specification. Further, a firstspecification range may be established to identify potential problemradios. An operational parameter within the first range indicates asuspect radio. A second specification range may be established toidentify failed radios. An operational parameter within the second rangeindicates a failed radio that should be immediately removed from servicefor repair.

Described now are exemplary embodiments of the present invention.Referring now to the FIGURE of the drawing in detail and, in particular,to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of a first exemplaryembodiment of the system of the invention. The system includes one ormore signal sensors (referred to as a DSP and DiagnostX Manager (DM) inthe FIG. 12 that receive RF signals from transmitting radios 14 andmeasures characteristics of the signal to extract desired operationalmetrics or operating characteristics of that radio. In one embodiment ofthe invention, each receiving site or sensor in a network employs atleast one directional antenna or a plurality of antennas that providediversity reception and may thereby increase a signal strength of areceived signal. Each sensor further includes, in an addition to the atleast one antenna, a receiver, a digital signal processor, a precisionoscillator and a general purpose processor. These devices cooperate,under control of the processor, to measure various signal parameters ofthe transmitted signal as required to extract the transmitter operatingcharacteristics, as identified below.

An identifier associated with each radio and included in each signaltransmitted by that radio is used to link the determined transmitteroperating characteristics to the transmitting radio.

A database 20 stores the radio identifiers for radios to be monitored(and in one embodiment a list of identifiers for radios that are not tobe monitored). The database 20 stores the pertinent specifications,desired operating characteristics and specifications ranges for eachradio. The database also stores the actual operating characteristics foreach radio, where the actual operating characteristics are determinedfrom the signals transmitted from the pertinent radio as those signalsare received and analyzed by the system of the present invention.

The sensor measurements are input to a DiagnostX Analyzer (DA) 18 thatperforms calculations and determines whether the signal measurementsindicate that one or more operating characteristics of the radio exceedthe pertinent specification ranges for that radio. When certain rangesare exceeded the radio may be flagged as suspect and when other rangesare exceeded this may warrant flagging the radio as failed.

Results from the DA 18 are displayed on a graphical user interface (GUI)22 under control of a DiagnostX Viewer (DV) 26 that pulls data for theGUI 22 from the DA 18 and the database 20. For example, the GUI 22 maydisplay a radio identifier and signal measurements associated with theidentified radio. The system can also identify (highlight) and displaypertinent information for any radio with potential or incipientproblems, including a general textual description of the problem.

From the DA 18, the analysis results are also stored in the database 20for later retrieval and/or additional analysis. The database 20 can besearched by radio identification number to retrieve performance data forselected radios.

After a radio has been repaired, the collected performance parameterscan be cleared from the database 20 as they are no longer relevant afterradio repair.

The system can also target specific radios for additional and moredetailed over-the-air or bench analysis. Such radios can also beidentified in the database 20. In one embodiment, performance data forthe targeted radios can be collected more frequently than the otherradios in the database.

The system generates, displays, and prints numerous reports includingbut not limited to:

-   -   Good radios, i.e., those that satisfy predefined operating        thresholds or satisfy associated specifications    -   Suspect radios as determined from standard industry conformance        testing and operational specifications.    -   Radios emitting a weak signal, where weak is defined as an RSSI        below a predetermined threshold or below the specification for        the associated radio.    -   Radios with an insufficient number of transmissions to permit an        accurate determination of the radio's health.    -   Radios not in regular use    -   Other reports according to user-defined subject matter    -   Waveform visualization    -   Bit-field visualization (i.e. a packet sniffer)

An analysis of the received signal and its waveform provides informationon the operational aspects of each radio, including but not limited tothe following operational attributes.

-   -   RF frequency accuracy    -   RF frequency offset (i.e., offset from an assigned frequency)    -   Timing of RF frequency offsets relative to a beginning of a        message    -   RF frequency offset variations throughout a message    -   Frequency deviation of the modulated signal (i.e., the        difference between the center frequency of the received signal        and the modulated frequency)    -   Range of frequency deviations over time    -   Maximum frequency deviation    -   Unexpected amplitude variations during a message    -   Symbol Frequency Error    -   Symbol Clock Error    -   Modulation Fidelity    -   Bit Error Rate    -   Conformance to packet structure specifications    -   Baud rate changes during a message    -   Spurious emissions    -   Received signal strength indicator (RSSI)    -   Consistent low power level irrespective of radio location    -   High bit error rate irrespective of radio location    -   Battery charge    -   Probable emission mask non compliance    -   Communication retries that exceed a user-defined threshold (as        applied to a trunked network). This parameter can also be        determined with respect to a specific receiving site in a        trunked network, i.e., whether a specific site on the network is        experiencing a substantial number of retries.    -   An unexpectedly low received signal strength based on the        location of the radio and the location of the receiving sensor

To assist with the analysis of each radio, the operator can definedifferent operational metric thresholds (e.g., frequency offset,frequency deviation) for one or more radios by reference to the radioidentifier. This feature thus allows different thresholds to beestablished for different radios in the network. The system can alsorank the radios from those with the best performance to those with theworst.

A radio exhibiting an operating measurement that exceeds a threshold isindicated on the GUI 22. These radios may be classified as suspect orfailed. In one embodiment the number of analyzed transmissions and thetime period over which the data is collected must satisfy minimumthresholds before the radio can be identified as suspect or failed.

The system operator can also determine and configure the system with thelength of time the historical operational data is stored (e.g., astorage time parameter such as last year, last six months, etc.), thefrequency at which the performance data is collected (e.g., one dailyperformance snapshot, weekly, monthly) and the performance data measuredduring each snapshot.

The system can generate and send e-mail alerts to users and systemoperators. For example, each morning an email listing the worstperforming or suspect radios can be sent to system operators or to theuser of each listed transmitting device. The users of the listed radiosand the system operators should consider these radios when communicatingwith or trying to locate any of the listed radios. The alert criteriaare also user-defined (e.g., frequency of emails, email distributionlist).

If the system operator is interested in the performance of only a subsetof the radios, the operator generates a list of the radios andconfigures the system to monitor the performance of only the listedradios.

The system can also store and display:

-   -   A minimum RSSI threshold (e.g., −95 dBm or greater) before        operational data is collected    -   A median calculation on the collected data to statistically        eliminate any outliers for a radio.    -   Radio repair dates tied to a radio identifier (preferably a        radio serial number or another unique radio identifier). A        repair technician enters the radio identifier into the system        before beginning the repair and a system-generated date is used        as the repair date. When a repair date is entered the historical        performance data and all radio transmissions are cleared    -   A suspect radio can be cleared of all recorded performance        measurements and events to restart the collection and evaluation        process for the radio. The system-generated date/time is used as        the “clear” date    -   Store the previous n performance data measurements for every        radio    -   Maintain lists and pertinent data that indicate the health of        each radio according to the parameters that the user or system        operator defines for a suspect, failed and a properly operating        radio. For example, the lists can indicate a radio always        transmitting signals below a user-defined RSSI threshold, above        a user-defined threshold but based on fewer than n measurements,        and a subjective judgment as to the radio's health (e.g., good        or suspect) and the metrics on which the judgment is based. The        user or system operator can also define the contents of any list        and data reporting requirements for any radio.    -   Generate or use an operator-provided list of radio        identification information that identifies radios for which        performance data has not been collected    -   Ensure the radios meet FCC mandated performance requirements    -   Install software updates or synthetic instrumentation via an        Internet connection or manually from a CD or USB drive

When a signal from a radio is detected (referred to as an event), radioidentification information, date and time information, and measuredoperational characteristics for that radio are determined and stored.The operational parameters are analyzed to determine the “health” of theradio. Tracking the time the event is recorded allows the system totime-align events if multiple sensors are used to record the radioperformance data.

The system can track radios by serial number, radio ID, or anotherunique identifier. This is useful in systems where radios arereconfigured with different identifiers because it allows all historicalperformance information to link to the same physical radio.

In one embodiment, after a location of the radio is determined, by aradio-location system separate from the diagnosis system of theinvention, the RSSI value can be used as one parameter to assess the“health” of the radio. Other parameters that are location-dependent canalso be used once the location has been determined.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to acertain preferred embodiment or embodiments, it is obvious thatequivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled inthe art upon the reading and understanding this specification and theannexed drawing. In particular regard to the various functions performedby the above described components (assemblies, devices, circuits, etc.),the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond,unless otherwise indicated, to any component that performs the specifiedfunction of the described component (i.e., that is functionallyequivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosedstructure that performs the function in the illustrated exemplaryembodiments of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature ofthe invention may have been disclosed with respect to only one ofseveral embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more otherfeatures of the other embodiments as may be desired and advantageous forany given or particular application.

It is noted that various individual features of the inventive processesand systems may be described only in one exemplary embodiment herein.The particular choice for description herein with regard to a singleexemplary embodiment is not to be taken as a limitation that theparticular feature is only applicable to the embodiment in which it isdescribed. All features described herein are equally applicable to,additive, or interchangeable with any or all of the other exemplaryembodiments described herein and in any combination or grouping orarrangement. In particular, use of a single reference numeral herein toillustrate, define, or describe a particular feature does not mean thatthe feature cannot be associated or equated to another feature inanother drawing figure or description. Further, where two or morereference numerals are used in the figures or in the drawings, thisshould not be construed as being limited to only those embodiments orfeatures, they are equally applicable to similar features or not areference numeral is used or another reference numeral is omitted.

The foregoing description and accompanying drawings illustrate theprinciples, exemplary embodiments, and modes of operation of theinvention. However, the invention should not be construed as beinglimited to the particular embodiments discussed above. Additionalvariations of the embodiments discussed above will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art and the above-described embodiments should beregarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Accordingly, it shouldbe appreciated that variations to those embodiments can be made by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention asdefined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for determining characteristics of aradio within a communications network, comprising: at least one radiobeing mobile or portable and transmitting over-the-air RF signals withinthe communications network, the at least one radio having: transmissionoperating parameters with respective predetermined values defined by atleast one of a regulatory agency, a manufacturer of the at least oneradio, a user of the communications network and a provider of thecommunications network, the predetermined values having respectivethresholds; a unique identifier; and an over-the-air operating mode inwhich the at least one radio transmits radio frequency (RF) signalswithin the communications network, the signals comprising at least theunique identifier; at least one RF signal sensor receiving the RFsignals transmitted from the at least one radio in the over-the-airoperating mode, the RF signals comprising the unique identifier andhaving characteristics correlating with the transmission operatingparameters; an analyzer communicatively connected to the at least one RFsignal sensor and, while the RF signals are being received during theover-the-air operating mode: the analyzer is configured to measure thecharacteristics of the RF signals and determine a health of the at leastone radio by analyzing whether the measured characteristics of the RFsignals transmitted from the at least one radio are within therespective thresholds of the predetermined values; the analyzer isconfigured to conclude that the health of the at least one radio isacceptable if the measured characteristics of the RF signals are withinthe respective thresholds of the predetermined values; and the analyzeris configured to conclude that the health of the at least one radio isunacceptable if at least one of the measured characteristics of the RFsignals are outside at least one respective threshold of thepredetermined values.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theanalyzer: at least temporarily stores a health status of the at leastone radio; and utilizes the health status to effect repairs on the atleast one radio when the health of the at least one radio is determinedto be unacceptable.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theanalyzer is configured to install a software update in the at least oneradio as a repair when the health of the at least one radio isdetermined to be unacceptable.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein, when the health of the at least one radio is unacceptable, theanalyzer is configured: to flag the at least one radio as suspect if atleast one of the measured characteristics of the RF signals is outside afirst threshold range of at least one of the predetermined values; andto flag the at least one radio as failed if at least one of the measuredcharacteristics of the RF signals is outside a second threshold range ofat least one of the predetermined values and at least one of: toindicate to at least one of the user and the provider to remove the atleast one radio from service; and to remove the at least one radio fromservice.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the analyzer isconfigured to determine the health of the at least one radio at leastone of: with the RF signal sensor; and separate from the RF signalsensor.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmissionoperating parameters comprise at least one of RF frequency accuracy, RFfrequency offset from an assigned frequency, timing of RF frequencyoffsets relative to a beginning of a message transmission, RF frequencyoffset variations throughout a message transmission, frequency deviationof the modulated signal, range of frequency deviations over time,amplitude variations during a message transmission, symbol frequencyerror, symbol clock error, modulation fidelity, bit error rate,conformance to packet structure specifications, baud rate changes duringa message transmission, spurious emissions, received signal strengthindicator (RSSI), consistent low power level irrespective of location ofthe at least one radio, high bit error rate irrespective of location ofthe at least one radio, battery charge, a number of retries over apredetermined threshold, and unexpectedly low RSSI.
 7. The apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein the analyzer is configured to determinethe health of the at least one radio by analyzing whether the RFfrequency offset of the RF signals transmitted from the at least oneradio are within an RF frequency offset threshold and, if the measuredRF frequency offset of the RF signals is outside the RF frequency offsetthreshold, to conclude that the health of the at least one radio isunacceptable and to repair the RF frequency offset of the at least oneradio with a software update.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the analyzer is configured: to determine the unique identifierwithin the received RF signals; to determine if each of the received RFsignals conform to packet structure specifications; to determinebit-field information of the received RF signals and discern from thebit-field information a type of transmission that has been received fromthe at least one radio; to measure an RF frequency offset of the atleast one radio; to correlate the bit-field information with the RFfrequency offset utilizing the unique identifier; and to repeatedlycarry out the bit-field information determining step, the RF frequencyoffset measuring step and the correlating step to determine a range ofRF frequency offset deviations over time.
 9. The apparatus according toclaim 8, wherein the analyzer is configured to utilize the range of RFfrequency offset deviations to repair the at least one radio.
 10. Theapparatus according to claim 8, wherein an event is defined when an RFsignal from the at least one radio is detected by the RF signal sensorand the analyzer is configured to utilize the range of RF frequencyoffset deviations to clear the at least one radio of all recordedmeasured characteristics and events to restart a collection andevaluation process for the at least one radio.
 11. The apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein the analyzer is configured to utilize therange of RF frequency offset deviations to generate and send e-mailalerts to at least one of the user and the provider to repair the atleast one radio.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thecommunications network is at least one of a trunked radio network and apublic safety trunked radio network.
 13. The apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the at least one radio is a plurality of radios. 14.The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the RF signal sensorcomprises a database and stores the radio identifier of each of theradios in the database, the database comprising: a list of the uniqueidentifiers for each of the radios to be monitored and each of theradios not to be monitored; specifications for each of the radios;desired transmission operating parameters for each of the radios;specification ranges for each of the radios; and the measuredcharacteristics of the RF signals received from each of the radios asthose RF signals are received.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 13,wherein the RF signal sensor comprises a database and stores informationrelated to the transmission operating parameters in the database, theinformation comprising at least one of statistics related to thetransmission operating parameters for the radios, past repair dates forthe radios, identification of those radios for which no operatingcharacteristics have been determined, and user-defined information. 16.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the RF signal sensor is aplurality of receivers and which further comprises: when an RF signalfrom the at least one radio is detected by one of the receivers, definedas an event, the one receiver determines and stores for the event: theunique identifier of the at least one radio; date and time information;and the measured characteristics for the at least one radio; andtime-aligns the events with two or more of the receivers.
 17. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission operatingparameters have respective thresholds for the network provider that aretighter than thresholds defined by at least one of the regulatory agencyand the manufacturer of the at least one radio.
 18. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the RF signal sensor comprises at leastone antenna, a receiver, a digital signal processor, a precisionoscillator, and a general purpose processor cooperating together tomeasure the characteristics of the transmitted RF signals and to comparethe characteristics with the transmission operating parameters.
 19. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the radio is at least one of amobile transceiver and a portable transceiver.
 20. An apparatus fordetermining characteristics of a radio within a communications network,comprising: at least one radio being mobile or portable and transmittingover-the-air RF signals within the communications network, the at leastone radio having: a unique identifier; an over-the-air operating mode inwhich the at least one radio transmits radio frequency (RF) signalswithin the communications network, the signals comprising at least theunique identifier; and transmission operating parameters with respectivepredetermined values defined by at least one of a regulatory agency, amanufacturer of the at least one radio, a user of the communicationsnetwork and a provider of the communications network, the transmissionoperating parameters comprising RF frequency offset, the predeterminedvalues having respective thresholds comprising at least an RF frequencyoffset threshold; at least one RF signal sensor receiving the RF signalstransmitted from the at least one radio, the RF signals comprising theunique identifier and having characteristics correlating with thetransmission operating parameters; and an analyzer communicativelyconnected to the at least one RF signal sensor and: measuring thecharacteristics of the RF signals while the RF signals are beingreceived during the over-the-air operating mode and determining a healthof the at least one radio by analyzing whether the measured RF frequencyoffset of the RF signals transmitted from the at least one radio arewithin the RF frequency offset threshold; and if the measured RFfrequency offset of the RF signals is outside the RF frequency offsetthreshold, scheduling a repair of the RF frequency offset of the atleast one radio with a software update.
 21. The apparatus according toclaim 20, wherein the analyzer is configured to install the softwareupdate in the at least one radio as the repair when the measured RFfrequency offset of the RF signals is outside the RF frequency offsetthreshold.
 22. An apparatus for determining characteristics of a radiowithin a communications network, comprising: at least one radio beingmobile or portable and transmitting over-the-air RF signals within thecommunications network, the at least one radio having: transmissionoperating parameters with respective predetermined values defined by atleast one of a regulatory agency, a manufacturer of the at least oneradio, a user of the communications network and a provider of thecommunications network, the predetermined values having respectivethresholds; a unique identifier; and an over-the-air operating mode inwhich the at least one radio transmits radio frequency (RF) signalswithin the communications network, the signals comprising at least theunique identifier; at least one RF signal sensor receiving the RFsignals transmitted from the at least one radio in the over-the-airoperating mode, the RF signals comprising the unique identifier andhaving characteristics correlating with the transmission operatingparameters; an analyzer communicatively connected to the at least one RFsignal sensor and, while the RF signals are being received during theover-the-air operating mode: the analyzer is configured to measure thecharacteristics of the RF signals and determine a health of the at leastone radio by analyzing whether the measured characteristics of the RFsignals transmitted from the at least one radio are within therespective thresholds of the predetermined values; the analyzer isconfigured to conclude that the health of the at least one radio isacceptable if the measured characteristics of the RF signals are withinthe respective thresholds of the predetermined values; and the analyzeris configured to conclude that the health of the at least one radio isunacceptable if at least one of the measured characteristics of the RFsignals are outside at least one respective threshold of thepredetermined values and to schedule a repair of the at least one of theoperating parameters of the at least one radio with a software updatebased upon at least one of the measured characteristics of the RFsignals that is outside a respective threshold of the predeterminedvalues.
 23. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the analyzer isconfigured to install the software update in the at least one radio asthe repair when the health of the at least one radio is determined to beunacceptable.